


draw another picture

by visionsofgreed



Category: Muse (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 17:41:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21532339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/visionsofgreed/pseuds/visionsofgreed
Summary: Matt promises, but he doesn't deliver.
Relationships: Matt Bellamy/Dom Howard
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	draw another picture

“You’re here then.”

“Mmm yeah”

“Right. Should I ask?”

Dom sighed and put his phone down. Sometimes he almost missed the time when Chris wasn’t lucid enough to poke and prod at this. Incidentally those were also the times he wished he was a decent human being.

He said nothing. Chris was too perceptive these days; the less he had to go on the better. It had been Matt’s fault of course. Not only in the sense that he let Dom down again, but mainly in the sense that he just had to announce his plans beforehand, like the impulsive twat that he was, only to go back on his word and leave Dom to deal with Chris’ well meaning concerns.

“Dom.”

Dom finally turned towards him, Chris’ big sad eyes looking straight into his. Fans could go on and on about Matt’s eyes, and if he was honest with himself Dom could go on and on and on about them as well, but there never would be anything in this world like Chris’ big brown eyes to make Dom feel as understood as they do. Chris and Dom, the same instrument. 

“It’s fine, Chris.”

Was it? See, it had been a few years since Dom had decided that being angry with Matt and feeding into feelings of betrayal ended up hurting him more than just forgiving Matt and letting his actions wash over him. He’d done it before. He had fed into his anger, he had stayed awake, lying in beds that weren’t his and staring at ceilings that were never home, coming up with more and more reasons to be angry, thinking up all the instances he had been let down, all the things that he would never tolerate from anyone else, all the instances that Matt – his Matt- would have never dreamt of putting him through ten years ago. And all that had led to was just a pointless disaster of a confrontation. Seeing Matt in regretful tears was not something Dom wanted to see ever, ever again.

“Dom. It’s not fucking fine, mate.” 

Dom leaned his head back on the luxurious sofa and closed his eyes. Sometimes, when he allowed himself to become the worst possible cliché, he marveled at how fiercely he would rather be sitting on the rankest, dirtiest old floor in one of the dingy pubs they used to play than this. He physically shook the thoughts out of his head and remained silent. Arguing with Chris of all people was the last thing he needed, not to mention he had nothing left to say really. Nothing had changed, nothing would change as far as he was concerned and it. was. fine.

Chris made a frustrated noise. “I don’t get why you’re letting this go on, when it’s clearly hurting you. Talk to him at the very least, just let him know that-”

“He fucking knows, Chris, just-- Leave it, alright?”

Chris shook his head, in this disappointed fatherly way that he had and took a seat on the chair opposite Dom. He leaned back. “Where has he even gone?”

“Some… girl. A fan. ” A beautiful one actually, Dom thought. “You saw her too, long hair, pretty face. She was a laugh.” 

“Wha- The one who was all over you?”

“Yup”

Chris snorted. “I don’t know how you do it, mate.”

Doms shrugged. Diane, her name was. She had been holding this beautiful huge drawing of Floyd during the, it was impressive. Most of them -the loudest ones at least- came for Matt. Or rather they came for all of them, but Matt inevitably magnetized them and monopolized their interest without even meaning to. Dom gets it. He of all people knew that there had always been something about Matt that drew people in and never let them go. The smugness and pride he felt, when he let himself dwell on the fact that he was the first person to see it, would never go away.

Not Diane though, apparently. Diane didn’t take her eyes off Dom for their whole set. Dom had smiled at her and made a gesture of amazement at the art she had been holding. Diane, to her credit, had held his stare and blown his a kiss at him before mouthing that she loved him. And, frankly, in that moment Dom loved her too.

He arranged for her to be let in backstage after the set for a chat and she turned out to be just as pleasant and she had seemed. She gifted him the painting and she was all flirty laughs and jokes, her eyes never straying from his face. Dom loved it. No matter how fleeting or superficial these interactions were, he always felt genuine affection for their fans.

They both recognized the moment as it passed them by. Diane’s eyes bore into his and neither of them spoke. She fumbled with her hair a bit, before tucking them behind her ear. Her eyes fell to his lips and her own lips parted, showing for the first time since they’d started talking the effect he had on her. That was the moment. Dom would have taken her hand in his and smiled to put her at ease. Maybe he would have touched her hair. He would propose she hang out with all of them for a bit and finally they would have ended up side by side. He would’ve pulled her onto his lap, gripped her small waist. He would have kissed her and he would have touched her and he would’ve given her every bit of genuine love and affection he had to give. He would’ve placed her on top of him at first and then he would’ve flipped her onto her back, pinned her down and made sure she would remember every detail of him for as long as possible. It would’ve been fun and it would’ve been passionate and it would’ve been the last time he'd ever see her.

Instead Dom pulled her in for a friendly hug and told her again that he was glad she had enjoyed the show. Diane ducked her head and regained her previous easy-going demeanor. When she looked up at him again, he wished fiercely that he could erase the disappointment in her eyes. He wished he could tell her that she was beautiful and she was funny, but see, Matt, his Matt, had come up to him before the show with hugs and kisses and whispered promises of a night spent together and nothing in the world had the power to take Dom away from that.

They weren’t together, Matt and him. They never really had been a… couple and neither of them wanted a conversation about it. There had never been anything more tangible than whispered promises, desperate whispers of I love you I love you so much while on the verge of tears or laughter or something to let out some of the intensity of the emotion they felt. Dom vividly remembered a time when they gravitated to each other without need for explanations. There had been a time when regardless of whatever craziness was going on in their lives, Dom searched for Matt and Matt searched for Dom.

Matt searched for Dom that night too. He looked happy and sweet, running towards Dom and Diane. He was smiling and his eyes were looking straight into Dom’s. When he reached them, he slipped his arm around Dom’s shoulders and pulled him close. He introduced himself to Diane who had clearly perked up by his arrival. Dom wondered if his own eyes turned as wide and starry as hers had in the singer’s presence. Matt and Diane joked, the girl playfully flirting with him like she had with Dom.

At some point during the conversation Matt’s arm slipped away from Dom’s shoulder to gesticulate vividly, trying to get his point across to Diane, who seemed to have some interesting theories on humanity’s true origins. Pseudo science and conspiracy bullshit for the most part, in Dom’s opinion, but Matt loved it. This idea that there’s more to things than meets the eye, more than the obvious, more than words can express had always fascinated Matt. Their music had always been a reflection of that. It had always touched at this imperceptible magic that Matt wanted to see in the world and that words would simply never be enough to describe. 

Before Dom even knew it, Matt was holding Diane’s hand in his and pulling her away. Whiplash. Promises forgotten. Dom left behind watching two people who had initially come for him leave together.

It was fine.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not as embarrassed as I should be.


End file.
